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NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

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Organization Overview:

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) is a partnership between the NOAA Line Offices that work on coral reef issues: the National Ocean Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. The CRCP brings together expertise from across NOAA for a multidisciplinary approach to managing and understanding coral reef ecosystems.

NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) is a cross-cutting program that brings together expertise from a wide array of NOAA programs and offices. In strong partnership with coral reef managers, the CRCP works to reduce harm to, and restore the health of, coral reefs, including deep-water corals, by addressing priority national threats and local management priorities through conservation activities. The CRCP was established in 2000 to help fulfill NOAA's responsibilities under the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (CRCA) and the Presidential Executive Order 13089 on Coral Reef Protection. The mission of the CRCP is to protect, conserve, and restore coral reef resources by maintaining healthy ecosystem function. The primary objective of the CRCP is to address strategic coral reef management needs in a targeted, cost-effective and efficient manner. CRCP funds and equips reef conservation activities by NOAA and its partners in the seven U.S. states and jurisdictions containing coral reefs (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawai`i, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands), uninhabited islands including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Pacific Remote Island Areas, and internationally, including the Pacific Freely Associated States. The program provides coral reef managers, scientists, and other users worldwide with information and forecasts of coral bleaching events using sea surface temperature data from satellites. Citizens and government officials acting locally are our partners in improving coral reef health globally. CRCP provides information that empowers our public partners to act; for example, informative signs in coastal areas and distributing educational information to coastal businesses and the public. Coral Reef Conservation Grants Programs—Between 2002 and 2009, NOAA awarded a total of over $50 million in matching grants for coral conservation projects. Coral Reef Conservation Fund, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, builds public-private partnerships and leveraged NOAA's $4.7 million into more than $12 million for 140 projects in 28 countries. CRCP serves as the Secretariat for the US Coral Reef Task Force, which includes leaders of 12 Federal agencies, seven US states and jurisdictions, and Freely Associated States. The NOAA Coral Reef Information System is home to all data, products, and publications generated by CRCP-funded projects.